Dog-itching remedies?

In My Humble Opinion
1

My dog has been itching and scratching like crazy the last two months. He scratches almost continuously. He’s always had itching problems, but nothing as bad as this. Over the years we’ve tried diet changes (duck & sweet potato kibble for six months), allergy shots, Atopica pills, and flea remedies, but nothing has any effect other than cortisone shots, which can’t be used very often. Our vet has no more suggestions, though we’ll be going to a new vet in a couple of weeks.

Has anyone had any luck with any remedies?

2

Isn’t oatmeal good for itching? They sell special oatmeal doggie shampoo at the pet stores, I think.

ETA: Like this!

3

Some dogs are allergic to wheat and corn. If there is any in your dogs food, it could be a problem. Even some of the binders used to make kibble can contain these things. Duck and sweetpotato may be the main ingredients, but their might be something else that is causing the problems.

Have you had him tested for protien allergies? What about non-kibble dog foods? My dogs eat raw or cooked meat and raw bones. No grains at all. The only allergies we deal with now are the seasonal ones that my AmStaff/GSD mix gets in the spring.

ETA: Are there any possible environmental factors? Change in the laundry soap you wash their bedding in? new cleaning products for around the house? Neighbors using new fertilizer on their lawn? There are so many things.

4

IIRC, for dogs, at least, the #1 cause of food allergies is (was?) chicken, not corn, although corn is also in the list of foods that can give them food allergies.

Let’s start with the duck and potato diet*. Was the dog still getting preventive medicine (flea, tick, and heartworm meds) during the time you tried it? If so, THOSE could’ve been the ones giving the dog allergies. A dog in a very strict food trial is not supposed to eat anything else. This means no rawhides, no outside food sources, no table scraps, no treats, nothing chicken or meat or whatever flavored… and no chewable preventatives.

Also, a dog with allergies really needs to be on flea/tick control, as fleas are one of the main causes of allergies. Have you tried different products, perhaps there is resistance? And by those, I mean veterinarian-prescribed, no OTC ones?

Have they done skin scraping and culture, to rule out fungal, bacterial, and parasitic (mites) infections? If not, they should. They may not have been the original cause of the itching, but if it has been going on for a long time, by now the skin may have several secondary problems, like bacterial, fungal, or parasitic infections. Those would have to be treated then too, despite being secondary. Otherwise the issue may not resolve.

Considering all that you’ve done, I’ll recommend your vet sends you to a dermatologist, or at least a vet who really really loves to deal with skin diseases. And be prepared to answer lots of questions about history and such…

*What kibbles need to bind is a source of starch. If the diet you’re mentioning is the one I remember seeing, prescribed for allergic dogs, then no, those diets are NOT supposed to have regular ingredients (like chicken, or corn). The source of carbs (starch) would be the potatoes, in your case.

5

Also consider the household environment - especially now with winter, the indoor humidity is often lower. Supplementing the diet with fatty acid supplements from the vet may often help.

Is your household non-smoking? Pets are at a major health risk when exposed to smoke - skin irritation/itchyness is a chronic problem, along with general health risks to all pets.

What bedding are you using? Wood shavings are another irritant, along with wool pads, laundry detergents, carpet treatments. Use fragrance free detergents on bedding, rinse everything thoroughly, and no dryer sheets/fabric softeners.

These are often overlooked details.

6

My vet recommended Benydryl for itching.

7

x 2

We started buying large containers at Sam’s Club and were giving our dog two in the morning and two at night. It did seem to provide him some relief.

8

The duck & sweet potato kibble was only that, designed for allergies. He had no other food in that time. We’ve used several different flea drops: Advantage, Bio-Met, and Revolution. The vet thought that he was allergic to the flea bites. It didn’t seem to help much with his itching. He tested mildly positive for several different grass allergies. He doesn’t use any bedding, just wooden floors and leather chair, and we haven’t changed any household products. Non-smoking. I don’t believe he’s had any skin scraping/cultures for fungal infections, so I’ll be sure to have the vet check.

I’ll try Benadryl right now.

9

The skin scrapes are to look for mites. The cultures are to look for possible fungi/bacteria.

All of them are likely secondary, but treating those should help bring the itching down a notch.

Flea bites are one of the main causes of allergies. Even if it didn’t help much, just keep the dog on some type of preventive.

Benadryl may help, even if it is just treating the signs. Just be aware that benadryl is an anti-histamine, and chronic itching from chronic allergies may need more than just that.

But if that, combined with everything else, is all that it takes to take the edge off, go ahead.

IIRC, there were/are treatments similar to the de-sensitization shots used in humans. But again, that is something better discussed with a vet that really really loves skin diseases (and treating them).

10

I was just looking at allergy discussions on my raw diet for dogs board and one woman found that her particular dog had an allergy to beef. She took him of everything that even hinted at beef…or so she thought! Turns out the heart worm preventive she was giving him once a month contained beef by-products.

You may need to evaluate every single, little thing you give him from OTC meds to prescriptions to find out if he is getting some allergen you aren’t aware of.

11

If you’re interested in herbal remedies, I’d suggest oral liquid extracts (in his food or straight down the gullet) of milk thistle (which can help the liver clean out the metabolites from all the drugs he’s on), figwort (classically used for skin irritation and allergies) and nettles (ditto, and it’s a mild natural antihistamine), and topical treatment with a spray made of diluted chamomile essential oil in some water and witch hazel applied topically to the itchy areas.

All of these herbs are safe for dogs. Chamomile can occasionally cause allergic reactions itself (well, of course anything can, but chamomile is mentioned more often than others) so pay attention, add only one thing at a time and stop using it immediately if it makes him worse, of course.

12

He is.

We did the de-sensitization shots after he was allergy-tested and found to be mildly allergic to certain grasses. They didn’t have any discernable effect.

13

I had a very itchy dog (flea allergies) once and took her to a canine dermatologist. I think she stopped the initial flare up with cortisone, but she sent me home with a big bottle of prednisone. After the shot wore off, if I noticed Kiwi itching I’d give her a prednisone, if she was still itching the next day I’d give her another, and when she stopped itching I’d give her a half the next day, and then none. It kept the flare ups from going full scale, and kept her from having to go to the vet or take full courses of steroid every time she itched.

14

Has your dog ever been treated for skin infections? Like I said, even if the root was some sort of allergies, if there are infections, not treating them won’t make the itching go away.

Have you tried different medicated shampoos? Depending on the brand, and on what was the preliminary diagnosis on your dog, some are also used to combat infections, while others may be used for dry or oily skin.

What is the breed, what is the age, since when did the itching started? How old was the dog when the itching started? Does it gets worse with different seasons? Those and other questions I’ve asked would be asked if your dog goes to a vet dermatologist.

Check if they’ve done cytology, superficial skin scrapings, AND deep skin scrapings. And also the culture part (both fungal and bacterial). If they have done it, ask what the results were. If they have not, ask them to do it. Again, those are likely not the main cause, but treating them may help. It may also help in finding out what the allergen is.

Picture this: You’re a dog, you have some food allergy, and due to some weird dog response, the allergen ends up making your skin itch. So you scratch… scratch so bad you probably abrade your skin surface, which is more fragile than a human’s AND is probably messed up by the allergic reaction already. Your skin already has normal (and not so normal) flora, and they see the abraded (open) skin as a nice place to settle and overgrow. But that just makes you itch more. And you’re still getting the allergen through your food, so you get a double whammy of itching.

And great, they’ve taken the allergen out, so you should be fine, right? Nope, because you still have an infection of bugs that has not been treated, and those bugs still make you itch. So it doesn’t seem to have worked. And then they put you back on the old food. And oh great, you get the double whammy of allergen + bugs again. And the bugs just won’t leave.